Glory be to Jesus Christ. I want to begin the
homily by quoting from the 14th chapter of John's
Gospel. This particular passage is most relevant.
And speaks to the festival. Which we celebrate
today. And I quote. Philip said. Jesus. Show
us the father. And it is sufficient for us. And
Jesus said to him. Philip. Have I been with you
so long. And yet. You have not known me. He who
has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you
say, show us the Father? It's a text that is
relevant to the understanding of the feast day.
which we celebrate today. On this first Sunday
of Orthodoxy, Christians throughout the world
are celebrating and commemorating in various
ways the event which is called the Sunday of
the Triumph of Orthodoxy. This day marks the
day on which the ancient tradition of venerating
the icons was reinstated. Historically speaking,
this event was first celebrated in Constantinople
in the year 843 and had been And has been celebrated
continuously up to this very day. It is only
however after serious controversy. Which shook
the very foundation of the church. Very serious
persecutions. And the martyrdom of thousands
of Christians. That eventually the truth prevailed.
As it always will. By God's will. The practice
of venerating icons. Was not something. That.
came about in a way which many today consider
simply adornments of the church. And there is
another aspect to this celebration. that should
be thoroughly emphasized. It was not simply a
matter of different approaches to religious paintings
that caused this serious disruption in the church.
The iconoclasts, that is those who violently
opposed the veneration of the icons, were eventually
considered heretics. Because they were destroying
the very essence, the very foundation, the very
core of Christianity. That is to say, God, In
becoming man. Assume the material nature. And
that's why I refer to. Even today. There are
many. Churches. Non -orthodox of course. That
have removed every vestige. Of iconography. But
it was the fathers of the 7th century. The Seventh
Ecumenical Council that reaffirmed and decreed
that icon veneration has not only a scriptural
basis, but in fact has a profound devotional,
spiritual, educational value and significance.
Icons, my dear people, are important because
they witness and authenticate to what the Bible
clearly teaches. And as we as Orthodox Christians
have been celebrating throughout the centuries,
icons have something to do. and witness to God,
the nature of Christ, the world, and our salvation
has something to do with St. Paul referred to
as the countless witnesses, the cloud of witnesses
of saints, and even relics. So one thing that
I want to strongly emphasize is that they are
not religious paintings, adornments, and decorative
items. Rather, they speak clearly, distinctly
beyond the categories of yesterday and today.
Because they are revelations of truth. They are
a visual gospel which reflect the saving grace
and transformation of the material world. You
could say they are non -verbal expressions of
theology. in form and color. They are positive
and spiritual means of teaching, explaining,
preserving and promoting the good news of our
salvation. What God became, when God became man,
he assumed our nature. He stepped into the stream
of our time, of our history, and he came to offer
not a moral code which you hear from the televangelists.
He came to save us, to reclaim us, to renew us,
to sanctify life, both the soul and the body,
both the spiritual and physical world. St. Paul
teaches in Christ, all things have become new.
Thus the person we see in some of the icons are
not physically represented. They are represented
in spiritual and transfigured terms. Because
Christ came to establish the world as a sacrament.
And each Sunday when I come, I make particular
attention to that icon of St. John of Damascus
who said that I worship the God of matter who
became matter. That is to say, who took on human
flesh to work out my salvation. Through matter.
Icons even speak. Directly and indirectly. To
ecology. Because we are not. To destroy. God's
beauty. They speak and reflect. Not this world.
Hence the difference in the presentation of icons.
Because this world is alienated from God. It
is a broken and sinful world. And so the icon
then is a transfigured and redeemed, renewed
aspect of life. Teaching. And revealing the death
and resurrection of Christ and the renewal of
life. Again, St. Paul says, Christ is the image
of the invisible God. Who, by him all things
were created that are in heaven. And there are
on earth. They are united in one aspect. All
of the icons. Because they are unique meeting
place. And can become the divine encounter between
believers. and the heavenly realm. Some time
ago I gave an illustration of why icons do relate
to us in a very intense way. And I want to again
quote that illustration because it serves as
a medium for our understanding of why the icons
place in our life a redeemed possibility. This
event that I want to speak of took place in Vietnam
during the Tet Offensive. No mail was coming
in or going out because of the situation. There
was a young lieutenant, non -orthodox, who loved
to come to the liturgy. And he sang beautifully.
I never opposed him singing. But I noticed after
the liturgy, he never venerated any icons, nor
the cross, nor any of the saints. It was on a
Sunday afternoon when they announced that we
could go to the post office and pick up our mail.
And the lieutenant said, Father, can I go with
you? I said, yeah, you sure could, because I
can drive the jeep anyway. So we went, and my
box was above his, a couple inches above his.
I took out my mail, and I saw what he did. The
first thing he did was kiss the mail he received
from his wife. And he began to shed tears. He
said, how foolish. How foolish of me, Father.
This is a piece of dirty mail. And yet, the first
thing I did was to kiss it. Because the kiss
I gave was the one I gave to my wife. When we
come to church, we venerate the icon. Not the
wood or the paint, but that, the one who is represented.
And in that act of devotion and worship, we acknowledge
that God has worked through that particular saint
and has redeemed him. And that's why they are
signs and presence of the beauty and holiness
of God. They are, in a sense, books of piety.
Visual aids. A scriptural commentary. Expressing
the unchanging truth. In the Bible. That the
church. In a language. And in a form. Speaks
to everyone. At every age. Notice. And they often
do. Little children come up. They can't reach
the icon. What will they do? They'll cross themselves.
And kiss the icon. And kiss the cross. What a
beautiful act. Of devotion. You know our patron
saint. The blessed wonder worker seraphim. Once
said. indicated here on the icon. The purpose
of Christian life is to acquire the Holy Spirit.
Now ask, and I ask you, what does this mean to
acquire the image and likeness of God? That image
and likeness of God which was marred and disfigured
by sin. Our destiny, my dear people. As icons.
We are icons of the living God. The image is
like this. And that is why the celebrant always
senses you. Recognizing you as a redeemed person.
An icon. Representing God's choices. creation.
We are, as the New Testament teaches, partakers
of divinity. Each one of us is called to be a
saint. If this Sunday of the celebration of Orthodoxy
has something to say to us, it is this. It's
a joyful event. More than an annual ceremony.
Because today, individually and collectively,
we reaffirm and proclaim our oneness in Christ.
We recognize and confess That one and that each
of us, each of us is an icon redeemed by the
grace of God. We acknowledge that our rich heritage
and diverse heritage is not a burden to be carried.
but rather a blessing to be shared. In the year
430, St. Nihilus the Sinait wrote, Let the hand
of the iconographer fill the church with icons
from the Old and New Testament, which we are
doing. Let the hand of the iconographer Teach
us, or those who cannot read, teach us about
the Bible. By looking at the icons, bring to
our, not only our minds, but our hearts, the
good deeds of those who have served and loved
the Lord with reference. And we are called to
do the same. And to him, our gracious and loving
God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we honor and
worship.